ATLA, In A Darker World

Chapter 28 Begging

A town ...... Just what he needed right now.

At least that was what Luca thought.

At this point, it was almost sunset. Standing on the side of the mountain range, his destination could be seen right before him.

Haican, the last earth kingdom stronghold before Omashu. From the outside, it certainly looked the part. Large stone walls of earth could be seen fencing the previous village from all sides with figures stationed on the walls.

From the distance he stood at, a normal person wouldn't be able to make out a clear picture.

- Subskill - Hawkeye -

For him, whose's Marksmanship had exceeded the standard 15 points, a spyglass at this distance wasn't needed. The guards on the walls all wore green uniforms of varying colors. Some light green, some dark, some with additional colors of gray, dark yellow or brown.

Some stood in one place, seemingly immobilized while others walked along the walls as patrols.

Large amounts of circular rocks were loaded on the walls, ever ready to be used by the earthbenders in case there was ever an enemy attack.

The advantage of tall walls, fortified stronghold and Long ranged attacks was enough to give the Fire Nation a headache.

After all, earth was everywhere at their disposal. The earthbenders could just launch boulders from afar at their enemies and squash them to death with falling rocks.

In fact, they had.

This part of the Earth kingdom was separated by two rivers on its sides. Crossing the river west would lead to the Mining Village he had just crossed from (As if going towards Fire Nation Lands), and East leading to the Koala Mountain Range that led to Omashu.

Aside from crossing the river, the only other way to get there was to go inland North until you met the river's end. Then go around it and continue your journey. But that would take longer and with the war going on and bandits everywhere, it wasn't necessarily safer.

“.... Most refugees usually go around the river path .....”. That was what the Earth kingdom captain meant when he said those words.

Luca however, wasn't most refugees. Crossing the river to the other side was a definite must in order to avoid Fire Nation on the lookout for him.

And just as he expected, Fire Nation troops on the other side of the river hadn't even heard of his existence.

That aside.....

Rustle ….

At that moment, the sound of rustling leaves came from a distance. Luca turned around, his hand reaching for his sword.

The bushes were pushed aside, following which, three figures appeared in the open.

“It's ok dear, we're almost .......”. The leading male had his voice stuck in his throat at the sight before him.

It was a young man, a really young man. But that wasn't the point. The point was that this boy had a sword on his back with his hand placed on the handle. His posture looked as if he were ready to cut them down at a moments notice.

'Oh no ...... Did we encounter a bandit? .....'.

His reaction quickly attracted the attention of his wife and sister who similarly froze in their tracks.

A strong tension immediately filled the atmosphere as both sides stared at each other without making a sound.

Luca observed the new arrivals with scrutiny. One male, two females. They wore green clothing with varying degrees of intensity. Some light, some several shades darker and small mixture of light colors.